DWRL Lesson Plans - Ideology

Homework Assignment

Assignment Length:

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Pedagogical Goals - Literature:

Cultural Context

Historical Context

Media Requirements:

Required Materials:

For students:

-Pen or pencil

-Worksheet (can be filled out on a computer through an LMS like Canvas or Blackboard, or in hard copy provided by instructor)

-The image and article to be analyze (either through a computer or in hard copy provided by instructor)

For instructor:

-Without classroom technology

-Hard copies of worksheet, comic book cover, and article for each student

-With classroom technology

-Projector to show image and article

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Full Assignment Description:

The Captain America comic book cover published in April, 1942 features a larger-than-life Captain America physically subduing a stereotyped caricature of Japanese Emperor Hirohito. This cover appeared shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, a historical event depicted on the cover itself. Students will analyze the kairos (Pearl Harbor and WWII) and the presuppositions about American values (victory through martial power, strength, an in-group mentality, patriotism, etc.) for this comic book cover.

They will compare the American values lauded in the comic book cover with the American values mobilized by the Sikh artist Vishavjit Singh. In 2013, Singh dressed up as Captain America and walked through New York City. He catalogues his experiences in the Salon.com article "Captain America in a Turban." Students will analyze the kairos (the Twin Towers terrorist attacks, discrimination against Sikhs in America) and the presuppositions about American values (diversity, inclusivity, etc.) for this article/ performance.

After filling out the worksheet on kairos and ideology, either for homework or in class, students should be encouraged to share their answers in a group discussion.

This assignment allows students to clearly see the connection between kairos and ideology by demonstrating how the same fictional character (Captain America) can be used to mobilize very different presuppositions and beliefs.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

Instructors should decide whether students will be given hard copies of the worksheet, the comic book cover and the article. Instructors should also be prepared to answer student questions about the publication dates of each source, the relevant historical context and the larger performance project of Singh.

Students should also have alread been introduced to kairos and ideology.

Students should first be given preliminary information about the comic book cover and the article. They should be provided with the publication dates for each and told about the medium in which each appeared.

Instructions For Students:

I have pasted the instructions from the worksheet below. Before filling out the worksheet, students will need to know the publication dates of each source. The worksheet is also provided below in Additional Resources. The two sources are also linked below. My students took about twenty minutes to fill out the worksheet. We spent the remainder of the class discussing their answers.

Kairos and Ideology Critique: Captain America and American Values Worksheet

Name:

Rhetorical Analysis defines kairos as “both the occasion for discourse and the surrounding conditions that present the rhetor with opportunities and constraints: opportunities or openings to say certain things in certain ways; and constraints that limit what can be said and how” (9-10). We can think about kairos partially as the historical context for a controversy.

According to Rhetorical Analysis, ideology is “a set of presuppositions that influences most everything—people’s family lives, their political choices, their intimate and professional relationships. These presuppositions must be held by an entire social class, culture, or community” (185-86). Ideological analysis allows us to identify key beliefs and values held by a group of people.

Examine the Captain America comic cover from 1942 and the Salon article about the Captain America performance piece by Vishavjit Singh in 2013. Both sources are using the ethos of Captain America to make very different arguments. Answer the following questions:

What is the kairos for each source?

Are the sources “timely,” or, do they respond intelligently to their respective kairos? How so?

What does each source presuppose about American values? What values does the comic book cover ask you to share? What values does the performance piece ask you to share?

How do the values/beliefs about American culture in each piece match or mismatch the piece’s kairos?

Notes on Reception, Execution, etc.:

This exercise seemed to make kairos and ideology readily accessible to some struggling students. The widely-known historical events of World War II and 9/11 helped clarify not only kairos, but audience as well. We talked about how the recent attack on Pearl Harbor helped create the audience for the comic cover and how an awareness of 9/11 made Singh's performance all the more relevant and powerful.

I did find it important to emphasize early on that the WWII comic cover uses racist imagery to make its argument. We had a very productive discussion about how the dehumanizing of Hirohito effectively concealed certain American ideological values like diversity while emphasizing others like exceptionalism and martial power.

Additional Resources:

April 1942 Captain America War Propaganda Comic Book Cover (Captain America punches a Monstrous Emperor Hirohito while Pearl Harbor Unfolds at their Feet)

Sept. 2013 Salon.com "Captain America in a Turban" (Sikh artist Vishavjit Singh describes his experience dressing up as Captain America and walking the streets of New York City)

Worksheet for Students:

Kairos and Ideology Critique: Captain America and American Values Worksheet

Name:

What is the kairos for each source?

Are the sources “timely,” or, do they respond intelligently to their respective kairos? How so?

What does each source presuppose about American values? What values does the comic book cover ask you to share? What values does the performance piece ask you to share?

How do the values/beliefs about American culture in each piece match or mismatch the piece’s kairos?

Course Type:

Course Description:

I used this lesson plan in RHE 309k: The Rhetoric of Superheroes, an intermediate writing course with special topics chosen each semester by the instructors. Students are taught writing, research, rhetorical analysis, and invention.

Tags:

Advertising Agency

Cowan — Mon, 29 Sep 2014 20:13:29 +0000

Author:

Jake Cowan

Image Credit:

Imaginary Forces

Brief Assignment Overview:

Help your students realize when they're being advertised to by helping them turn the tables on the Don Drapers of the Internet.

Type of Assignment:

Homework Assignment

Assignment Length:

One-Two Class Periods

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Collaboration

Open Access Software

Media Requirements:

Required Materials:

As part of their preliminary research outside of the classroom, students doing this assignment will need to participate on at least one social media platform, such as Facebook or Twitter. While the actual assignment is designed so that every student has access to a computer in the classroom (laptops would suffice), it could easily be adapted to only use pen and paper.

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Full Assignment Description:

From the minute we wake up to when we fall asleep — and probably while we dream — we are the objects of advertisements. Even if we have long gone without a TV, we are advertised to constantly through the social networking sites we use daily. Ads are on our Facebook pages, in our Twitter feeds, alongside our Google searches — and not only are they impossible to escape, but they seem to hauntingly follow us around like the eyes of the Mona Lisa. In the era of big data, advertising agencies know just about everything there is to know about you: Your age, your gender, your relationship status, your likes and dislikes; and increasingly websites curate your experience based on those statistics. This assignment aims to help students recognize those rhetorical structures telling them to buy buy buy by helping them flip the tables and write their own ads.

This assignment consists of two parts:

A brief homework assignment to be completed the night before. In a one-page paper, students will need to make note of various personalized ads directed at/to them on either Facebook or Twitter. Each student must catalogue at least 4 of these, with at least one screenshot included in the text itself for clarity. The should summarize, in just a few words, what product each ad is for, the visual content of the advertisement, and the overall message. They should then try to identify trends between the ads and any rhetorical strategies these miniature texts might be employing to convince you to click on them. Finally, the students should spend a paragraph reflecting on what the ads suggest about the object's specific ethos, at least in the eyes of the companies mining your data and selecting these ads. Speculatively, what might someone assume about the viewer of these ads having never met him or her before? Who do these admen think the student really is? Are they right? What did they miss and what did they hit on the head?
An in-class exercise that utilizes classroom technology to create personalized ads. At the beginning of class, students should pair up and share their one-page papers, taking a few minutes to discuss the details of the ads, what they missed, and what their partner liked (or didn't) about these particular posts. After the brief one-on-one meeting, the students should again break up, moving to computers in order to create a new ad for their partner as would appear on a Facebook or Twitter page. The new ad should be highly visual, so the students should use a site like PicMonkey or Canva to design the perfect piece of content; should there be no computers or too few, pen and paper would be sufficient. Based on their discussions, each student should decide on what product their partner would likely want to buy, how it can be presented in order to make it more enticing, and which social media site it would make most sense to appear on. Once they are finished, the students should somehow share their work with their partners, discussing what they had in mind and why they made the choices they did; the partner should likewise talk about whether or not they find this particular ad engaging — if it were on Facebook, would they click 'Like'?

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

Other than preparing for the above, which would include familiarizing oneself with sites like Canva or PicMonkey, instructors should prepare a short introductory lecture on the rhetorical principles behind advertising campaigns. Rhetorical analyzing ads can be highly instructive, since their message always boils down to the same injunction: buy this product. Of course, there are a number of strategies that ads utilize to make that argument — humor, nostalgia, subconcious familiarity (i.e., Coke making ads so that people think of their product first to quench their thirst). A short video clip like this clip from Buzzfeed might help, or show a few famous ads and discuss those with your students.

Instructions For Students:

The closer that students pay attention to the ads that show up on their social networking sites, and the more they consider what might have prompted this particular content, the more interesting this assignment will be. Did she search for anything recently that would suggest she like watching horror movies? Did he click 'Like' on anything or follow anyone new that would suggest that he likes eating at Chili's? What ads do you like, and what about them makes those ads memorable? Additionally, when it comes to creating ads, students shouldn't worry about whether or not their partner needs an item — trust me, agencies don't worry about that at all — but how to make what you're selling appear indispensable and interesting. For additional and helpful reading, students might find this recent NYTimes article on Facebook ads worthwhile.

Evaluation Suggestions:

As with most in-class assignments, I pay attention more to participation than to the success of the assignment — whether or not someone would actually be convinced to buy a product based off of one of these ads shouldn't factor in to the grading rubric. Creativity and critical insight matter more than the productive part of the assignment.

Course Type:

Course Description:

This assignment was originally designed for a class on the rhetoric of the digital divide, which included a unit on what has been called the "filter bubble."

Introducing Ideology with HSBC Advertisements

Cate Blouke — Sun, 03 Aug 2014 02:16:11 +0000

Author:

Cate Blouke

Image Credit:

HSBC advertisement

Brief Assignment Overview:

This in-class activity uses the popular HSBC ad campaign (a tryptich of the same image with different value labels) to introduce students to visual rhetoric and ideology. After discussing the ads, students create their own version.

Type of Assignment:

Class Discussion

Assignment Length:

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

No Classroom Technology Required

Media Requirements:

Technology-Based Classroom (computers for each student)

Required Materials:

A computer-enabled classroom will allow for the full activity, in which students create their own version of the ad campaign. This could easily be adapted to an activity without technology.

Timeline for Optimal Use:

First Day/Week

Full Assignment Description:

A relatively straightforward exercise, this in-class activity serves as a fruitful introduction to talk about commonplaces, ideology, and visual rhetoric. The ads themselves address the issue of values through their captions, such as "The more you look at the world the more you realize that people value the same things but in different ways."

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

If adapting for use wihtout technology, you might make up some handouts with three unlabeled images and ask students to come up with labels. Similarly, if you don't want to take up the full class period, you could pre-select images to provide students.

Instructions For Students:

As your reading from Picturing Texts discussed, we learn how to se the world in particular ways. As the authors argue, "we construct our realities as we learn to see."

While this has certainly been a theme throughout the course, today's exercise addresses how the way that we see/read texts tends to reflect our own values or ideology. Ho we interpret an image can sometimes say more about us than the image itself.

The international banking firm, HSBC, has an ad campaign that reflects this multi-faceted approach to people and reality.

The triptych above labels the same image with three very different value judgments, illustrating quite explicitly how the same object can retain radically different meanings depending on the viewer.

One of the goals of this course (and an essential element of visual analysis) is for you to learn to consider multiple readings of the same image. As such, and as a handy segue into our unit on advertising, for today's exercise you'll create your own version of the HSBC ads.

With a partner (or two), find an image/object that you can label with at least three different meanings - being careful to use an image that is licensed for adaptive reuse. You can find these images by either using the google advanced image search functions or the filters in a Flickr search (both of which I will demonstrate in class). We'll be talking more about Fair Use and Creative Commons as we move into our final unit, so this is good practice to get you started.

After finding an appropriate image, using either photoshop or an image editing platform of your choice, compile the three images into a tryptich and label them with your different value readings (just as in the HSBC ads).

Notes on Reception, Execution, etc.:

My students had a great time with this exercise and came up with some nice examples. During the discussion, we also talked about design and parallellism.

Course Type:

Technology-Based Classroom (computers for each student)

Course Description:

In this course we will explore the ways in which images can be read, analyzed, constructed, and manipulated. We will interrogate how images inform our reading of historical and political events, of personal identity, of public and private spaces. We will think through issues of self-presentation: how our stylistic choices convey messages to the world around us, and how we interpret the choices of others. We will look at the spaces we frequent and consider the rhetorical effects of everything from the architecture to the furniture to lighting. In short, we will investigate how the visual (non-linguistic, non-textual) world conveys its messages.

Tags:

Using Flag Burning to Teach Icons, Symbols, and Speech Acts

Wiedner — Thu, 10 Apr 2014 19:09:40 +0000

Author:

James B. Wiedner

Image Credit:

"Plus" by Andre, "Fire" by Nick Abrams, "Equal" by Edward Boatman, and "Light Bulb" by Chris Brunskill, all from The Noun Project; (Flag Icon Is in Public Domain)

Brief Assignment Overview:

Students come to class having read read an analysis focused upon the importance of the seemingly minor distinctions between "icons" and "symbols" in the context of Texas v Johnson, the definitive Supreme Court case regarding the extent to which an American flag and/or the burning thereof is “speech,” and therefore protected by the First Amendment.

The class then explores the definitions of- and distinctions between- icons and symbols, analyzing the assigned reading’s contention that the majority and dissent opinions of the sharply divided court actually comes down to whether a flag in this context constitutes an icon or a symbol. Students then logon to classroom computers in pairs to find an example of one symbol and one icon. Students post their examples onto our Canvas discussion board with brief explanations as to why their choices do, in fact, constitute icons or symbols.

As time allows, the instructor puts the Canvas discussion page on the projector, and student postings are analyzed together as a class. The instructor assigns a brief follow-up reading.

Type of Assignment:

Assignment Length:

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Pedagogical Goals - Literature:

Cultural Context

Historical Context

Performance

Pedagogical Goals - Writing:

Research

Synthesis

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Media Requirements:

Required Materials:

Vergobbi, David J. "Texas v. Johnson." Free Speech on Trial: Communication Perspectives on Landmark Supreme Court Decisions. Ed. Richard A. Parker. Tuscaloosa, Ala.: University of Alabama, 2003. 281-97. Print.

Classroom with enough computers to accommodate all students at two students per computer.

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Full Assignment Description:

Speaking as generally as possible, this lesson plan seeks to help students think about the many different forms of rhetoric that exist aside from the written and spoken word. More specifically, the plan seeks to establish the ways in which actions, objects and images can constitute rhetoric. The definitions and uses of icons, symbols, and what the Supreme Court calls “speech acts” as rhetoric are then explored in the specific context of the definitive Supreme Court decision on the issue of flag burning, Texas v. Johnson (1989).

“Free Speech on Trial: Communication Perspectives on Landmark Supreme Court Decisions” is exactly what the title suggests. It is organized by chapters, with each chapter authored by a different attorney, judge, or legal scholar of note. Each chapter consists of a communications-based analysis of a different Supreme Court case, the vast majority of which revolve around First Amendment issues. A copy of the chapter entitled “Texas v. Johnson” from the collection is posted on Canvas several days before class, with instructions to read and make note of any questions they have while reading.

After a general class discussion on the reading, we focus our attention upon the primary contention of the article’s author. Specifically, that the conflicting opinions among the Supreme Court justices in this case came down to whether a particular justice viewed the burning flag as an icon or as a symbol, even though the justices were not aware that this is where their disagreement was founded.

The class discussion is directed in a quasi-Socratic method of instruction, with the instructor seeking to elicit contradictions among student responses to questions pertaining what it is that makes this case so nuanced and multi-layered. The instructor asks a question outright: “If a person just douses something in kerosene and lights it on fire without saying or writing a word, are they “speaking?” Again, a Socratic method is useful: asking students questions such as the above and challenging their answers with further questions and new contingencies lends itself to students rethinking their visceral responses to the original question, resulting in the class as a whole coming up with a more inclusive yet refined working definition of “speech.” We look at explicit and implicit reasoning in the Supreme Court’s analysis of the same question(s). Students are reminded that they’re allowed to disagree with the reasoning of a Supreme Court justice and that they shouldn’t be shy about challenging any of their statements and/or assumptions.

As we continue thinking about non-verbal rhetoric, the instructor directs the class to the portion of the assigned reading where the author begins elaborating upon his claim that whether the justices thought flag burning was speech or not came down to whether they treated the flag as an icon or a symbol. Given that even the Supreme Court wasn’t able to make sense of this icon/symbol distinction (or so says the article’s author), it should come as no surprise that students struggle with the nuance as well. Rhetoricians, linguists and the like disagree amongst themselves as to the precise definitions of these terms, but I tried to make the broad explanation that both icons and symbols are types of signs.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

There is no need to read the actual Supreme Court opinion in Texas v. Johnson. The instructor should, of course, have a firm grasp of the analysis of the case that the class has been assigned to read.

I also found it very helpful to spend time refining my own understanding of icons, symbols, signs and the like. There is much grey area and a fair amount of disagreement on some aspects of these concepts.

Instructions For Students:

Before class: Read the article posted on Canvas, making note of questions they have as they arise.

During class: Following class discussion, logon to the classroom computers in pairs, and find one example of an icon, and one example of a symbol, and to post both to the Canvas discussion board, along with brief explanations of their choices.

After class: Read a short “article” (in comic form) that will be available on Canvas after class. Create a short posting as to whether this follow-up reading helped clarify the symbol/icon distinction, and the way in which it did so.

Notes on Reception, Execution, etc.:

This lesson went over better than I ever expected. Although looking at these issues in the context of a Supreme Court decision might seem uniquely befitting a Rhetoric of Law course (which is what I teach), the issues discussed are of broad interest, and students don’t have to actually read any judicial decisions.

I would recommend pulling up the Canvas discussion page on the projector, and going through a few of student postings for as long as time allows (approximately 10 minutes).

Additional Resources:

The Noun Project- An excellent site full of simple icons and symbols to peruse. The images at the top of this lesson plan are all from the Noun Project.

Course Type:

Advanced Writing Course

TX Political Stars are Big and Bright: Identifying Audiences

Rhiannon Goad — Mon, 24 Mar 2014 18:51:09 +0000

Author:

Rhiannon Goad

Image Credit:

Know Your Meme

Brief Assignment Overview:

Getting students to think in more specific terms about audience, without generalizing, is challenging. Using political ads, work with students to identify audiences and think of themselves critically as audience members.

Type of Assignment:

Class Discussion

Assignment Length:

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Media Requirements:

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Full Assignment Description:

First, play Rick Perry’s infamous Strong ad. You know, the one where he says, “You don’t need to be in the pew every Sunday to know there’s something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can’t openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school.” That one. Before showing the ad, quickly remind students that the ad premiered as Rick Perry was losing traction for GOP voters in the Republican primary. Then, watch the ad and discuss who this ad was meant to encourage and why. Ask students, “What does this ad tell us about the state of Rick Perry’s campaign? Who is he reaching out for?”

Then, we watch two recent ads for TX governor: one for Greg Abbott and another for Wendy Davis. I ask the students, “As a student at UT-Austin, do you think either ad is meant to attract you? Why or why not?” Discuss what demographics each ad might appeal to and why.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

You’ll want to preload ads and watch through pesky commercials before class. You might want to prepare a handout with questions.

Instructions For Students:

Answer the following questions after each video:

Who’s this ad meant for? How do you know?
Does this ad demonstrate good knowledge of audience?
Who isn’t this ad meant for?
How do you know?
Might this ad backfire? Meaning, might this ad drive more voters away than it attracts?

Ethos and Online Dating 2.0 - Incorporating Visuals

Cate Blouke — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 15:54:10 +0000

Author:

Cate Blouke

Image Credit:

Image from The Dating Game scene in Mallrats. Found on The Baltimore Chop website.

Brief Assignment Overview:

A remix of a previous lesson plan, this exercise asks students to analyze the ethos of an online dating profile and then pair it with an appropriate image - drawing on the relationship between written and visual rhetoric.

Type of Assignment:

Assignment Length:

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Pedagogical Goals - Writing:

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Social Media

Additional Pedagogical Goals:

This works as a great introduction to the concepts of ethos, audience, and/or visual rhetoric.

Media Requirements:

Technology-Based Classroom (computers for each student)

Required Materials:

In theory, you could do this assignment without classroom technology, though an internet connection and projector would be ideal.

Timeline for Optimal Use:

#A - twocentsworth. "Studious." Flickr.com. 3 June 2008.

Full Assignment Description:

This is an update on a previous lesson plan: Teaching Ethos Using Online Dating Profiles, which relies strictly on textual analysis. As I explain in that plan, "Perhaps more so than any other piece of writing, and even more so than my students' facebook pages, the self-summaries presented in online dating profiles are fundamentally arguments of ethos. Regardless of specific rhetorical aim (a casual hook up, a future spouse, or something in between), at heart, each of these texts is saying to readers, 'this is who I am, accept me.' So they seemed like a great source text to get my students really thinking about how and why they evaluate people: what sort of snap judgements they make, how they read into things without even realizing it."

In this version (re-designed for my Introduction to Visual Rhetoric course this semester), I ask students to draw connections between written ethos/self-presentation and pieces of visual rhetoric. I offer them a written profile alongside a series of pictures of eligible "bachelors" to choose from. They then had to make the case for why they thought a particular image fit the written profile.

For this specific class, we had just begun a unit on style, and my students had been reading excerpts from Barry Brummett's A Rhetoric of Style and Stuart Ewan's All Consuming Images. Our discussion, therefore, focused a lot on the stylistic choices in the images and how those might be read as reflections of particular values indicated in the written profile. While those readings and that framework aren't necessary for this exercise, they did help to get my students grounded in the way they read people's visual style. Without this kind of foregrounding, you may end up having to do a fair bit of extra wrangling to get students to articulate why they draw the conclusions they do (i.e. how they connect mustaches with driving a Vespa). But that can be a great discussion - forcing them to confront/explain the assumptions they make.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

I spent a fair bit of time compiling a set of "bachelor" photos from creative commons liscenced images that I found on the web, rather than using people's actual OKCupid profile pictures. I'd recommend just using the ones I've put together (see below), though you're welcome to make your own. The idea of using actual images from OKCupid profiles didn't sit well with me, even if they are publicly available. It seems like an invasion of privacy (in a way), or at least a kind of appropriation that I'm not comfortable with. The written profile I excerpted was previously a public page but has since been taken down/made private - which means if you have students do this as a homework assignment or on computers, they can't just google some key phrases to find the actual profile (one of the downfalls of the previous lesson plan).

I tried to compile a diversity of styles that nevertheless might fit with the written profile, as well as some that I thought clearly didn't fit. However, I was surprised by my students' responses. There were multiple votes for five of the seven images - a much wider range than I anticipated.

Instructions For Students:

In our introduction to the concept of style, we also talked about the idea of "ethos" - the character, or sense of authority, that one presents to the world, either through writing (as you may have addressed in previous rhetoric courses) or (for our purposes) through style.

This unit is all about thinking through the assumptions we make about, or (more kindly) ways in which we read, both the styles of others and our own styles. What we think of a particular style or clothing item isn't necessarily the same as how others view it.

There is, perhaps, no clearer instance of an argument based on character (and style) than online dating profiles. Each person's profile essentially makes the argument that "you should date me because of who I am." These arguments are paired with a selection of images, presumably chosen to cast the author in his or her most favorable light. On the free online dating site OkCupid, users combine images of themselves with written self-summaries in order to convince potential matches to give them a chance.

For this exercise, read over the written dating profile below, and then review the potential images. Your task will be to pair the written profile with one of the possible images. We'll assume that all elements of the image were carefully crafted/selected for this particular purpose/venue.

Questions to consider in making your choice: What kind of person does this profile describe? What does he value/care about? Which image do you think best reflects those values or that style?

Write a few sentences explaining your choice. Be sure to offer evidence for your analysis. Why does this image/person seem most fitting to you? What kinds of things about the man's style do you infer from the image? How, specifically, does that connect with the written description? You might also include your rationale for eliminating other potential options.

Keep in mind that you want to think about the "big picture" of this profile. While one or two aspects of the written part might point toward a particular image, is that image wholly congruent with the rest of the profile?

The Written Profile:

I have a yearning to explore different territory. To frolic in a refreshing mist atop the Yellow Mountains of Mainland China. To play with other great musicians. To watch shows in the opera house of Lyon, with an intermission of French kids break dancing outside the hall. To cook my own recipe in a Paul Bocuse culinary. These are things that most of my homies won't touch. Lest we forget, I am an abnormal guy; and I am looking for an extraordinary girl.

I want a girl who can be fun and adventurous. The kind of girl who isn't too afraid to suddenly break out of a three-day isolation and take a road trip across the country on a 1987 Vespa which I am convinced can take at least another hundred thousand miles.

Interestingly, my most passionate relationships involved completely contradictory personalities. Speaking of character--unfortunately, not all of us can be satisfied with pixellated photos and interview format autobiographies. Call me old-school, but coffee and a heated intellectual conversation beats the hell out of a 9 day back and forth email chat marathon. If you want to get to know me, call me. Tell me about yourself. Talk to me about politics. What is really important to you? I never get tired of meeting new and inherently good people.

The Potential Bachelors:

Bachelors.jpg

Image Credits:

#B - Mosborne01. "Ashs-student-playing-guitar." Wikimedia Commons. 1 July 2010.

#C - torbakhopper. "Cool Dude." Wikimedia Commons. 10 Nov 2011.

#D - Chris Hunkeler. "Running with Music." Flickr.com. 5 May 2013.

#E - siuhonglo. "Singapore Flyer." Flickr.com. Aug 27 2011.

#F - connerdowney. "7 - Meditation." Flickr.com. 08 Jan 2009.

#G - sadly, I have lost the citation information for this one. I know it was CC licensed, though. I will post citation if I can find it again.

Evaluation Suggestions:

This was in in-class exercise, so it wasn't evaluated.

Notes on Reception, Execution, etc.:

My students really enjoyed the exercise, and I was surprised by the arguments they made for one image over another. It fostered a lively conversation about stereotypes and assumptions (particularly the way they read the image of bachelor #C).

Course Type:

http://nypost.com/2014/02/09/sugar-daddy-website-has-coeds-rationalizing...

Course Description:

RHE 315 - Introduction to Visual Rhetoric

With the rise of new media and network television, Americans are exposed to thousands upon thousands of images on a daily basis. From our facebook streams to our television viewing choices to our personal email accounts, we are bombarded with images: of celebrities, of politicians, of consumer goods, of natural disasters, of… cats. And we must filter through it all in order to make sense of our world.

Tags:

Rhetorical Analysis of "Sugar Dating" Ads and Audience(s)

Wiedner — Wed, 12 Mar 2014 19:59:46 +0000

Author:

James B. Wiedner

Image Credit:

Brief Assignment Overview:

Students work on argumentation techniques, rhetorical fallacies, and other concepts via reading a heavily-biased article from the New York Post discussing the relatively new but quickly growing phenomenon known as "sugar dating," which consists of web sites that pair older men (sugar daddies) who are willing to pay money for the company of young girls ("sugar babies"). The amount that any potential sugar daddy can range from several hundred to several thousand dollars.

While sugar dating sites seem to be happy to recruit young girls of all stripes, they are clearly most interested in attracting students, as evidenced in part by the fact that membership fees are waived for any potential sugar baby who registers with a .edu email address. The banner ad above is illustrative of most common underlying technique found on these sites. That is appealing to the fact that the typical undergraduate student is cash-strapped, and that being a sugar baby is an easy way to solve the problem. The titillating subject matter and the fact that half of the classroom are part of the demographic being so narrowly marketed towards caught everyone's attention from the get-go.

After they finish reading the article, displaying and bouncing through one of the sites on a projetor is great in a classroom that is equipped to do so, but it is by no means necessary.

The class is divided into two groups who assemble their respective arguments as to the propriety of selling such a product using the rhetorical appeals employed and the audience to which they are marketing (primary and otherwise); a loosely-moderated class debate/discussion ensues.

Type of Assignment:

Assignment Length:

One-Two Class Periods

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Pedagogical Goals - Literature:

Pedagogical Goals - Writing:

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Collaboration

Social Media

No Classroom Technology Required

Additional Pedagogical Goals:

Increasing Classroom Participation, Building Rapport Between Students, Building Rapport Between Instructor and Individual Students, Building Rapport Between Instructor and Class as a Whole

Media Requirements:

Required Materials:

Nothing other than copies of the article distributed by the instructor at the beginning of class.

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Full Assignment Description:

The instructor distributes copies of an article taken from the web site of what is generally regarded as a reputable source for news. The class has no access to the article beforehand. The instructor asks the class if any of them are familiar with “Sugar Dating;” calling on student(s) with raised hands to explain what sugar dating generally refers to. The instructor then elaborates on the definition provided, paraphrasing points that might have been lost in the student’s explanation, adding any aspects of the concept that were not mentioned in the process. (5 minutes)

Students read the article individually. (5-10 minutes) phenomenon

The class then divides into two equally-sized groups, and discuss positive and negative aspects of the concept of sugar dating in general, along with the article’s presentation of the concept. One group is identified as the “pro” group, with the other identified as the “con.” However, the instructor does not articulate a specific question upon which they are taking sides. The two groups each work to flush out and organize what they believe to be their most salient points. (10-15 minutes)

An open discussion in a point/counterpoint format is the conducted, with the instructor keeping the discussion from straying to far afield, while casually interjecting to emphasize and elaborate upon the concepts that are relevant to rhetoric and/or law as they arise during the discussion. It is important that the instructor is as unobtrusive as possible throughout the ensuing discussing, to the extent that the collective “personality” of a particular class will allow. (30 minutes for a class meeting twice a week)

The instructor wraps up the debate and the class by highlighting some of the most important substantive points and the most effective argumentation techniques from each side of the discussion. Students are informed that there is a discussion prompt related to the day’s discussion; each student must submit one original posting, along with at least one response to another student’s original posting before the next class meeting. (5-10 minutes)

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

To prepare for the class, the instructor should spend time analyzing the specific article to be distributed to the class, composing a rough outline of considerations such as (1) the arguments (and counterarguments) most likely to be made by students, (2) the rhetorical concepts the instructor is most interested in covering, (3) questions that the class discussion might not touch upon.

The instructor should also do their due diligence in researching the subject in general. Visiting the actual sugar dating web sites is especially important. Students will have varying degrees of knowledge on the subject. Given the fact that these sites specifically target female college students, there is a strong likelihood that at least a couple of students will be well-versed on the subject; the instructor does not want to be learning about nuances of the sugar dating process, etc. from one of their students.

Instructions For Students:

As indicated above, instructions to be given to students are minimal (intentionally so). They're instructed to take about 10 minutes reading the article being contemporaneously distributed, with particular attention to tone, word choice, authorial bias, context, and visual rhetoric. They are then divided into two groups with opposing viewpoints, and are instructed to construct the most persuasive argument that they can, taking rough notes (to be submitted at the end of class) outlining the same.

They're reminded to consider likely arguments from the other side, and the best way to address/respond to them. Students then partake in a debate wherein the instructor guides them back on track if they are getting off-topic, overly emotional, or missing each other entirely (from a stasis theory standpoint).

At the end of the class, the students are given instructions to make a substanive blog posting responding to an instructor-provided prompt; the will seek to continue aspect(s) of the in-class discussion. Along with one original blog posting, students are instructed to post at least one response to the original posting of a classmate.

There is not any reading students are instructed to do in preparation for the class.

Notes on Reception, Execution, etc.:

The article’s author has a clear bias from the title onward, so I ask for a show of hands as to who agrees with the author’s…unflattering…representation of sugar dating and their advertisement and recruitment techniques. To my surprise, about 18 of my 22 students said that they agreed with the author. To keep the group numbers equal, I (somewhat lightheartedly) pointed out that the pinnacle of achievement for any rhetorician is to be able to effectively argue a point with which they wholly disagree. As my class is entitled “Rhetoric of Law,” I pointed out that this skill is of particular importance to attorneys, given that they take an oath to be “zealous advocates” for their clients in court, even if those clients are individuals whom they might find repugnant on a personal level. I then split the class roughly in half, based only upon where they happened to be sitting (or standing) at that moment, and then moving individual students towards one of two camps in order to arrive at numerical parity. I did not give consideration as to what side any particular student chose during our initial show of hands.

This lesson plan is well-suited for developing familiarity between students, increasing student participation, and establishing rapport between the instructor and his students- both individually and as a class. For these reasons, the lesson plan might be particularly useful at the beginning of the semester, or later on if class participation begins lagging.

Course Type:

Advanced Writing Course

Tags:

Using Google Drive for Collaborative Bias Analysis

Meredith Coffey — Sat, 23 Nov 2013 18:53:25 +0000

Author:

Meredith Coffey

Image Credit:

The "Gold Guys"

Brief Assignment Overview:

In this exercise, students research potential sources of bias within a set of assigned texts and add their notes to a Google Drive spreadsheet. The students and instructor then review the spreadsheet as a group and finish with a class discussion.

Type of Assignment:

Assignment Length:

Technology-Based Classroom (computers for each student)

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Ethos

Ideology

Rhetorical Analysis

Pedagogical Goals - Writing:

Research

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Collaboration

Additional Pedagogical Goals:

Bias Analysis

Google Drive

Google Spreadsheets

Media Requirements:

Required Materials:

Required:

-individual computers for each student or pair of students

-access to Google Drive for all students

-pre-assigned readings

Recommended:

-overhead projector

More information:

Prior to class, the instructor should assign short online readings and create a corresponding Google Drive spreadsheet (see more under "Full Assignment Description"). I would strongly recommend a set of three readings about the same general topic but from different perspectives.

In class, each student (or pair of students, if the instructor prefers) will need a computer and access to the Google Drive spreadsheet. Ideally, the instructor should also be able to show the spreadsheet using an overhead projector.

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Full Assignment Description:

BEFORE CLASS:

Prior to class, I assigned a set of short online readings. During a seventy-five minute class period, we were able to address three short readings, but instructors with shorter classes might want to work with only two. As indicated above, I recommend choosing articles about the same topic (for coherence) but written from different perspectives (for contrasting in class discussion). For example, I assigned three articles about ecotourism. The first was published on an elite US-based travel magazine website, the second came from a popular Caribbean news source, and the third was part of a specific travel agency's commercial site.

With these texts in mind, I created a Google Drive spreadsheet with three tabs, one for each article. Each was formatted the same way. For the left-hand column, I wrote each student's name, such that each student had one assigned row for each tab. On the top row, I listed different categories to consider while analyzing bias (these can vary, but I included criteria like political perspective, institutional affiliations, geographical affiliations, age, and religious perspective). I recommend freezing both the column with the students' names and the row listing the criteria, so that the students can navigate more easily. Freezing rows and/or columns will appear as an option under the "View" tab above the spreadsheet.

blank bias spreadsheet example.png

Shortly before class, I invited all of my students to access the Google Drive. Sending the invitation in advance saved some class time.

DURING CLASS:

At the beginning of class, we had a brief conversation about bias. We discussed the relationship between bias and credibility, what factors might impact an author's bias, etc. I made sure to introduce the criteria I had included on the spreadsheet. I also gave a quick introduction to Google Drive spreadsheets, since most of my students weren't familiar with them.

The students were then asked to review the readings, research the authors and venues of the readings, and fill out their own rows for each of the spreadsheet's three tabs. If they could not find a piece of information or did not believe it was applicable, I asked them to mark the box with "N/A" to indicate that they had at least considered the question. As they worked, I showed one of the tabs using the overhead projector. I also circulated around the room to answer questions. While I chose to have the students create their notes individually, an instructor could also have them work in pairs, if desired or needed.

completed bias spreadsheet example.png

After they had filled in their boxes, we looked together at each spreadsheet tab. I chose to do this part using the overhead projector, but if that option isn't available, students could also just look at their own screens. Instructors could choose from a number of discussion questions at this point. In our case, we talked about: similarities and differences among students' responses, how students obtained their information, and what they felt the most relevant criteria were in each case to determining author/source bias. They also contrasted the biases of the different sources.

PURPOSES:

The main goal of this activity was to ensure that students knew at least some preliminary factors to consider in thinking about bias. Because we did this activity early in the semester, it also helped with their research skills. For example, as I moved around the room, several students asked whether they could use Wikipedia as a reliable source about authors (answer: nope). The discussion portion also generated a conversation about strategies for research and information synthesis. For instance, with regard to the above screenshot: why did students get varying answers for "age," and why did others determine that the category was not relevant?

Between creating the spreadsheet and following up with class discussion, I aimed to engage both visual and auditory learners. The activity also worked well in terms of engaging quieter students, since they were all required to participate in the spreadsheet creation, and they all had time to think about their answers prior to the culminating class conversation.

In addition, many of my students had never used Google Drive before, and none of them had ever used the spreadsheet option. They had also never worked on Google Drive in real time. Consequently, this exercise gave them experience in accessing and using Google Drive spreadsheets as active, real-time collaborators.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

Assign the readings for bias analysis several days in advance. Creating the Google Drive spreadsheet (see details above) only took about fifteen minutes, and inviting the students to edit the spreadsheet via email took another ten minutes.

I would also recommend that instructors thoroughly familiarize themselves with the authors and venues of the assigned readings. Doing so will help in the event that students have questions about their findings, produce conflicting information, etc.

Instructions For Students:

(These instructions are specific to the spreadsheet completion portion of the class.)

Please log on at your computers, open the pages with the pre-assigned readings, and make sure that you can access the Google Drive spreadsheet that I've invited you to edit. Be sure that you can find your name in the left-hand column on each tab.

Once you have these materials ready, you can begin to research the authors and organizations behind each article. Try to fill out information for each box on each tab. To find this information, click around on the website where the article appears, Google the author's or organization's name, or try other resources. Always make sure that your information is reliable! If you can't find a specific piece of information, or if you feel that it's really not relevant, you can write "N/A" in that box. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Evaluation Suggestions:

In a sense, this exercise was in itself an evaluation--making sure that students could perform this basic research, were familiar with some of these potential sources of bias, and could navigate the Google Drive spreadsheet with confidence.

Notes on Reception, Execution, etc.:

The students did a great job with this assignment, both in terms of enthusiasm and execution. Possibly because I was actively circulating around the room, they did not just copy and paste each others' answers--they really did their own research. The Google Drive spreadsheet format seemed to work well, since it was novel to most of them, but also pretty accessible and non-threatening (so we didn't have to spend much time on how to navigate the spreadsheet).

Course Type:

Course Description:

Rhetoric of Tourism

Despite recent global financial crises, the tourism industry has flourished, expanding to include new forms like ecotourism, medical tourism, space tourism, voluntourism, slum tourism, disaster tourism, sex tourism, wildlife tourism, drug tourism, cultural tourism, dark tourism, and birth tourism—to name just a few of the emerging modes through which tourists hope to view and/or experience something “foreign.” Examining this unprecedented growth in the industry, the course will investigate issues like the relationship between tourism and authenticity, tourism and local economies, and tourism and power dynamics. In conjunction with these broader inquiries, students will also pursue a more specific topic of their own choosing. Consider, for example: does Austin’s music scene benefit from increasing SXSW attendance each year, or might this growth in popularity erode the city’s unique character? Do European volunteer teachers in sub-Saharan Africa provide unique educational services to communities in need, or is their inevitable departure too disruptive to the students they intend to help? Should curators maintain Auschwitz to encourage visitors, or should they abandon the tragic Holocaust site to natural decay? Beginning with a selection of readings that introduces the growing field of tourism studies, the course will ask students to research historical context and current arguments surrounding a relevant debate. As the course progresses, students will continue to engage with their controversies, analyzing rhetorical appeals of texts like newspaper editorials, travel magazine articles, blog posts, print and video ads, and short documentary films. The final project may take one of a number of forms, including that of a travelogue article, a critical essay, or a multimedia project.

Tags:

Rhetorical analysis

Research

Participation

Compiling Context with Digitized Periodicals

Coleman — Mon, 28 Oct 2013 01:29:53 +0000

Author:

Catherine Coleman

Image Credit:

Accessible Archives

Brief Assignment Overview:

Students examine and manipulate digitized page images in order to consider the presentation of serialized texts. “Compiling Context” is a versatile introduction to periodical print culture suitable for literature and rhetoric courses.

Type of Assignment:

Homework Assignment

Assignment Length:

One-Two Class Periods

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Pedagogical Goals - Literature:

Pedagogical Goals - Writing:

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Multimedia

Multimodal

Additional Pedagogical Goals:

Database and periodical research

Media Requirements:

Technology-Based Classroom (computers for each student)

Required Materials:

Digital access to periodical with original page images -- ideally with downloadable image files

USEFUL: A forum (e.g. a blog or wiki) where students post and comment on textual or visual compilations

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Full Assignment Description:

1. Access original page images of the source text. Library (subscription-based) newspaper databases often include original images, as do some free online services like Cornell's Making of America Collection.

2. Provide access to students by

a) downloading images of all or pertinent issues featuring the primary text (emphasizing the publication itself). High resolution images can be uploaded and selectively shared on Dropbox or Google Drive. The file viewer in Google Drive/Docs allows for high-resolution zoom while maintaining image quality and readability.

b) Create a guide for students to access issues (emphasizing research techniques). See 'Instructions for Students' below for a sample guide to accessing Uncle Tom's Cabin in the National Era through Accessible Archives. This can allow students to familiarize themselves with databases and practice the necessary steps for retrieving and saving page images.

3. Have students visually examine digital images of the issue(s) containing the source text. In engaging with the serialized version of the text they can be encouraged to

a) Consider relevant content published simultaneously with the primary text

b) Trace the evolution of political and social discourses across several issues or selected issues

4. Students then engage in the process of interpretive selection through either

a) Visual manipulation of the digitized source -- selection, cropping, digital mark-up, collage-making, etc.

AND/OR

b) Textual summary of the digitized source

5. Have students submit or post their compilations of context (image files, short write-up) -- ideally in a forum that allows commenting or other forms of feedback.

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

Secure access to page images in advance. You may wish to limit or direct the attention students devote to the original publication. You might

Limit students to front pages, especially if the primary text customarily appears on this page. This is the case with Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Have students access issues and then peruse textual (OCR) lists of content rather than page images
Have students select a topic ahead of time and run limited searches on the periodical to trace how discourse shifts across a broader range of issues

Instructions For Students:

I provided the following instructions for accessing Uncle Tom's Cabin in the National Era through the University of Texas at Austin's subscription to the "African American Newspapers: The 19th Century" series of the Accessible Archives primary-source database to students in my English 314L: Banned Books and Novel Ideas -- "Citizens and Censors" course:

1. Go to Google Drive where high quality jpeg images of the first ten installments of Uncle Tom’s Cabin are posted.

2. With a partner (where possible) note any significant headlines accompanying the installment you’re assigned.

3. If there are no significant headlines on the first page, or if you’d like more information:

a. navigate in a browser to http://lib.utexas.edu/

b. Click on the tab for ‘Databases’ and click the small link ‘Browse by type’ c. ‘Historical Newspapers’ > ‘African American Newspapers: The 19th Century’

d. On Accessible Archives, click the ‘Show more search boxes’ link.

i. ‘Stowe’ (AND) ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’

ii. Under Source, click and highlight ‘The National Era’

iii. 1851-06-01 to 1852-05-01

iv. Sort by Date

v. Scroll down to your installment date.

vi. Click on the installment or another article from your issue.

vii. Click ‘Issue Contents’ in the top menu

viii. Browse articles searching for anything relevant to Stowe’s novel.

Once students have access to issue images (and content lists, if need be) they can compile and present pertinent elements either visually using Photoshop and/or other image manipulation software to cut out specific articles or headlines. They may then unite these texts in the form of a collage or a written exposition interspersed with clippings from the digitized issue.

Evaluation Suggestions:

This assignment can be designed to target specific skills (research, visual manipulation and creation, etc).

Notes on Reception, Execution, etc.:

I would ideally preface this assignment with an Archive or Library day where students can at least see old periodicals and recognize how publication size/design standards have shifted over time.

Students were intrigued by the material elements of these publications (varying text sizes, different conceptions of "headlines" and emphasis, fading and blurring, markings suggesting provenence) even when they were only working with digitized images.

Course Type:

Literary Studies Course

Course Description:

E314L: Banned Books and Novel Ideas -- "Censors and Citizens"

Tags:

Database

Literary research

Flash Games and Visual Rhetoric

lazhu — Sun, 29 Sep 2013 08:38:13 +0000

Author:

Lily Zhu

Image Credit:

Though the game itself is available on PETA's website, this still-image is pulled from a Forbes article: http://blogs-images.forbes.com/erikkain/files/2012/10/Pokemon-PETA-600x3...

Brief Assignment Overview:

This assignment pushes students to recognize the layers of rhetoric and propaganda embedded in something as visual and auditory as a flash game. By playing and analyzing PETA's Pokemon Black and Blue, and comparing it to the original source, they will hopefully gain a more robust understanding of the relationship between classical rhetoric and an increasingly digitized world.

Type of Assignment:

Class Discussion

Course Unit

Semester-long Project

Assignment Length:

Partial Class Period

Pedagogical Goals - Rhetoric:

Pedagogical Goals - Digital Literacy:

Multimedia

Video Games

Additional Pedagogical Goals:

This is an activity meant to follow a lesson on rhetorical fallacies and/or methods of argumentation that aren't necessarily fallacious. It will reinforce these terms and definitions while providing a vivid, visual example of them in action.

It also serves as the basis for a later presentation project in which students will design their own flash games in groups using http://www.sploder.com (as a last-day-of-class assignment).

Media Requirements:

Technology-Based Classroom (computers for each student)

Required Materials:

Projector
Internet
Computer/media console for the instructor
Optional: computer for every student

Timeline for Optimal Use:

Full Assignment Description:

Though this could be a shorter assignment - as short as showing a commercial advertisement on the projector and asking students to discuss it in groups - I believe it would be a more enriching process if at least half of a one-and-a-half-hour session were devoted to it.

This assignment fits best after a comprehensive lecture on logos, ethos, and pathos as well as rhetorical fallacies in written texts. The instructor has two options: he/she can use the overhead projector to show the contents of his/her screen or students can be paired into groups of three and sent to their own desktops.

Though it is up to the instructor what game will be the subject of analysis, I have a few suggestions: PETA's parody of Pokemon Black and Pokemon White (http://features.peta.org/pokemon-black-and-white-parody/) or a Flash game critique of McDonald's and the fastfood industry in general (http://www.mcvideogame.com/index-eng.html). PETA actually has quite a few different parodies on the linked website.

Students are asked to play through the game (or watch the instructor go through it) and note what types of strategies the creators use to present the controversy, persuade the audience, and/or attack the opponent. They must find at least three fallacies and give detailed examples of how these were used, and under which modes of persuasion they might fall under (logo, pathos, or ethos). To bring Units I and II of RHE 306 together, I ask the students to also "map" this situation: who are the stakeholders? Who or what do these respond to? What are the potential biases?

Students must be specific and stay as close to the language of the course as possible when analyzing the game. At the end of this assignment, students will present their findings to each other.

(If the instructor is concerned about participation, students could take turns playing the game in their groups. One student plays, two take notes, switch, repeat.)

Suggestions for Instructor Preparation:

Play through the game beforehand and make a note of the images and events that are most important to the course content.

If particularly motivated, the instructor could make a handout of the list of fallacies students should be applying to the game.

Instructions For Students:

Play the game with group members, dividing work/play evenly.

Take notes on as many devices and strategies as possible, with references to specific moments in the game.

Be ready to present findings in front of classmates.

Evaluation Suggestions:

The presentation is proof of participation though the instructor can do walkarounds during the activity to check that it isn't one student doing all of the work.

Notes on Reception, Execution, etc.:

Given the increasing popularity and importance of electronic sports (Esports), I find it unsurprising that my students seem particularly receptive to videos and other digital media formats, and are often able to express rhetoric-related ideas more clearly in these contexts. Many of my students have also chosen to do their controversies over some form of media. It can be time consuming though and there might be bumps with plugin malfunctions; however, putting students into groups lessens the amount of slower starts.

Course Type: